


Blood on Your Hands, Cream in My Coffee

by littlephanwriters



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, Crime AU, Detective AU, Fake Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Phandom Big Bang 2016, Too much coffee, and too many authors, coffeeshop, mentions of blood/violence/death bc it's a crime au but nothing too graphic, not a coffeeshop au but THERE IS COFFEE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 07:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8568754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlephanwriters/pseuds/littlephanwriters
Summary: Police officer/criminal AU where Dan and Phil are partners assigned to go undercover as a couple to catch a serial killer, and Dan starts to fall in love with Phil while working on the case.Alternatively: the crime AU/coffeeshop AU crossover that no one asked for.Genre: angst, fluffWarnings: mentions of violence/blood/death because it’s a crime AU, but nothing too graphic





	1. chapter 1: evacuated-heart

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to our phandom big bang fic! this fic was a MASSIVE group effort, our team consisting of a total of 14 people including 12 authors, a beta, and an artist. (yes, 12 authors. you read that right.) 
> 
> authors: (littlephanwriters.tumblr.com/members) evacuated-heart, problmemeatic, phanimist, Howdoesonewrite-help, I-craft-ladders, helpmeimphanicking, Emonoodlememe, humanityxpeople, skyboidjh, starmvn, Vegapancakes, and queenramsia (please note that some of these tumblr urls may be out of date, i (becca skyboidjh) will do my best to make sure everyone has their newest url here but honestly no guarantees) 
> 
> beta: holdyourcheese (el, you're so amazing, you didn't expect to get thrown into a groupchat with 12 fricking authors, but you've still stuck with us and helped us so much, thank you!!!)
> 
> artist: plasticphan (hannah!! your art is SO amazing, we've had loads of fun working with you this year, thank you so much!!!)
> 
> additional thanks go to the amazing organizers of phandom big bang, especially our mod squad leaders! we're a stupidly large group to work with, (really annoying to organize into mod squads probably) thanks so much for your hard work! we would also like to thank memes, putty and rutty, and the 7 billion julias that apparently inhabit planet earth.
> 
> link to art: ([ link!](http://plasticphan.tumblr.com/post/153235740047/littlephanwriters-presentblood-on-your-hands)) (will be linked at the end of the fic as well, you might want to look at it then to avoid spoilers!)  
> read it on tumblr: ([ link!](http://littlephanwriters.tumblr.com/post/153235810890/blood-on-your-hands-cream-in-my-coffee))
> 
> we hope you enjoy the fic! the author of each chapter is listed in the chapter's title and summary. this first chapter was by evacuated-heart/julia!

Chapter 1

 

When Dan started his job, he never expected any of this would happen.

 

When he was four, Dan told his mom he wanted to be a superhero. When he was fifteen, he told her he wanted to be a police officer. Now at twenty-four, he was one of London’s top detectives. Getting the job definitely wasn’t easy. The training he had to go through was rigorous, and he almost gave up multiple times. But in the end it was completely worth it.

 

When he was first hired, he worked a desk job, filling out paperwork that detailed different cases. He didn’t mind it too much though, since he got a taste of what he would be doing in the future.

 

Filling out all that paperwork also gave him the ins and outs of some of the detectives, and there was one name that caught his eye, as it appeared at the top of a closed case file about once a week:

 

Phil Lester.

 

He was the agency’s golden boy, managing to find the answer to every case he was presented with, and Dan admired him for it. He spent the rest of his desk days pouring over Lester’s files, until the fateful day he got to actually work with him.

 

It was just like every other Tuesday: he was sitting at his desk, filling out paperwork like usual, when Phil Lester came barging into the room with Griffin, the manager of the Precinct.

 

“You!” Phil pointed at Dan. “Suit up, you’re coming with me on this bust.”

 

At the time, Dan had felt honoured, since he had been asked by golden boy himself to help him bust a criminal. It was later Dan found out that Lester’s partner had been shot that morning during a car chase and that he was only supposed to serve as a substitute.

 

Fortunately for him, the partner decided to retire early and spend the rest of his days working in accounting, and Dan was promoted to be Phil’s partner full time. Now they’ve settled into a routine: Dan will come in on a Monday morning, and Phil will give him a new case file to read over his coffee. Dan usually doesn’t even get the chance to go over the case completely before Phil babbles on about his theories about the criminal.

 

That’s what they were doing when Griffin called them into his office. “Hey boys, I hope you’ve had a good time working on the Thomas case,” he said casually. “I’m giving it to someone else.”

 

“What?” Phil asked, like the suggestion was ludicrous. “We were going to stakeout a potential suspect later today! Why are you giving it to someone else?”

 

“A new case has been brought to our attention from one of the other precincts, and we figured you guys would suit it best.”

 

“Would we?” Dan folded his arms over his chest. “What makes you think so?”

 

Griffin gave him a twisted smile and drummed his fingers on the desk. “Don’t you want to hear the case first? It’s a good one. A florist, a baker, and a seamstress all stabbed in the same week, doesn’t that sound like something strange? It’s right up your alley, isn’t it?”

 

“Those sound like they have no connection,” Dan mumbled.

 

“They have something in common, don’t they?” Phil guessed, stretching his arms above his head. “Something to do with a wedding?”

 

“Ding ding ding!” Griffin chirped, flashing them finger guns. “That’s exactly it buddy. They were all stabbed five times in the chest, which led us to believe that they’re connected, but then we found out they’ve all been working with this guy.”

 

He slid a glossy-looking photo across the table; a balding man in a pinstriped dress shirt was standing under a sign with ‘Austin’s Weddings’ written in bold lettering. 

 

“Austin Pure,” Griffin said, standing up from his leather desk chair. His tie hung down and ended up in his coffee, and Dan heard Phil snigger, but both of them kept quiet about it. “He’s a wedding planner that specializes in same sex weddings, and he’s worked with all three of our victims on separate occasions. He’s the only thing that really ties them together, so we think he could be the next victim.”

 

“Let me guess, you want us to take him into our care so he doesn’t get killed?” Phil complained. “The Thomas case would be so much more interesting than just watching over this guy for a week.”

 

“I wasn’t finished.” Griffin sat back down, picking up a stack of files from the desk. “We don’t really want to freak this guy out, since he has a violent history. His ex filed a restraining order against him because he threw their fine china against a wall. You might want to be wary of him– you should investigate him like a suspect, he’s not ruled out yet.”

 

He handed the files to Dan and Phil. “Here’s what we have on the murders so far, including all the details on the latest victim, the florist Briana Fleure. Inside you’ll find all the information you need about your new identities. Get ready to leave the badges behind boys, you’re now Dan Peters and Phil Patton, and there’s only six months until your wedding. You better get planning.”


	2. chapter 2: i-craft-ladders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by natalie / i-craft-ladders!

Chapter 2

 

Dan and Phil sat at Dan’s desk assessing the murders and rereading the files for what had to be the tenth time since they received them from Griffin.

 

“First we have the seamstress,” Dan pointed out. “Lauri Taylor. A middle-aged woman who was in her shop two hours after closing Monday night at 11:00 pm. Presumably while finishing up a few last measurements on the tuxedo she was working on, she was stabbed five times in the chest. She was found after a lady who lived in an apartment across the street heard a scream and called the police.”

 

“Yet there were no witnesses who saw anybody walk in or out of the premises around the time of her murder,” Phil finished reading. “And there was nothing left at the scene that could give a lead on the person who would’ve done it.”

 

“Next was Dominic Harding, a young baker that was well known for his extravagant wedding cakes. He was found lying in the alley next to his store on Wednesday morning about half an hour after his death which took place somewhere between 11:30 pm - 12:00 am. He was presumably walking home after closing when he was stabbed five times in the chest. Nobody in the area saw anybody around Dominic’s bakery during the time of the murder.”

 

“And the last murder was Briana Fleure, the florist. Briana was found bent over her fridge, presumably while placing a bouquet in there on Saturday morning at approximately 9:30 am by a client who came in. As with the other two murders, she was stabbed five times in the chest, but there were no witnesses who saw anybody entering or exiting the flower shop at the time.”

 

Phil closed the folder containing all the information and sat back in his chair. He threw his arms behind his head and let out a long groan. Dan looked at Phil then back down at their files. 

 

“So all we know is that these three victims were all stabbed five times in the chest by a blade about 16-20 centimetres long; they’re involved with Austin Pure, a wedding planner, and the two other suspects; and whoever is behind each murder must have an aversion against weddings, specifically same-sex ones because of Austin’s specialty,” Dan verified.

 

“The killer is quite sneaky too. There were no witnesses who saw anybody around the time of each murder, and there were no clues as to who they could be either,” Phil said. “The stab wounds came from a knife with a fairly long, straight blade. Their best guess from the autopsy was something like an M9 bayonet. It’s an American knife issued to the US army, but you can buy commercial versions online and get them shipped here to the UK.”

 

Dan nodded and opened up the files again. “And we have to play as a couple looking to get married just to keep watch of Austin Pure.” He looked over at Phil who was sipping at his coffee. “I’m not the best at acting.”

 

“Just follow my lead, sweetheart,” Phil said sarcastically. He added a wink in Dan’s direction and stood.

 

Dan looked up at him and furrowed his brow quizzically. “What are you doing?”

 

Phil pulled out his phone. “I’m going to call Austin and set up an appointment with him,” he said, leaving the room.

 

Phil returned a few minutes later with a sticky note in hand. He pressed it against Dan’s desk. “This is the address to my place. Come over tomorrow at about a quarter ‘til eight. That’s when Austin gets there.” 

 

***

 

Dan was at Phil’s apartment right on time. Dan knocked five times and waited for an answer. Phil came to the door smiled, thanked him for coming, and let Dan in the small apartment. Dan studied the room he was in, a joint kitchen and lounge. A small table sat in the corner of the room with the case files scattered across it.

 

“We don’t want Austin seeing this when he gets here,” Dan told Phil, pointing to all the papers.

 

“I was just going over what we know again. I want to make sure we know everything when we get the case going,” Phil stated as he started picking up all the paperwork off the table.

 

Dan helped him get the files picked up and back in the folder. Phil took the folder over to his bedroom and dropped it on his bed before returning to where Dan was sat at the table.

 

“Austin should be here shortly. Make yourself look like you comfortably live here with me,” Phil instructed. 

 

Dan relaxed into his chair. “I think I can do that.”

 

They sat in silence at the table as they waited for Austin to show up. Dan twiddled his thumbs and hummed a small tune while Phil tapped the table with his fingers.

 

They both startled at the knocking at Phil’s door. “That must be him,” Phil mumbled as they both walked over to the door.

 

Phil opened it to reveal the man on the other side. His appearance matched that of the photo Griffin had given them yesterday.

 

“Are you Dan Peters and Phil Patton?” he asked them. Austin shook Phil’s hand, then Dan’s, and the two men introduced themselves. 

 

“I’m Austin Pure and I’ll be planning your happily-ever-after,” Austin replied.

 

Dan and Phil cleared a path in the doorway for Austin to enter. 

 

“Thank you for coming over,” Dan told the man.

 

Austin laid a briefcase down on the table. “It’s my duty,” he said, then took a seat. “Now, let’s get started.”


	3. chapter 3: helpmeimphanicking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by clara/helpmeimphanicking!

Chapter 3

 

Dan shuddered as he closed the door behind him. “Man, even if I were actually gay I would never hire him to be my wedding planner. He has the weirdest accent.”

 

Phil laughed and collapsed into a kitchen chair. “Same. Do you want some coffee or anything? We could do a bit more planning if you want.”

 

“Sure, thanks.”

 

The chair scraped against the tile floor when Dan pulled it out. He sat and took their file out, observing all the red marks on the map of London, the case suspects, and the victims.

 

“So what’s the plan? Actually get married in order to keep an eye in him?” Dan joked. Phil brought over two steaming cups of coffee and set them on the table. 

 

“Um, that actually might be able to work,” Phil said, and sipped his drink. “We should try to take a look around his office though.”

 

“We probably should.” Dan murmured his agreement through a mouthful of coffee. 

 

“If we wait any longer, someone else might be the next victim. Even if it isn't Pure, it's better safe than sorry.”

 

“So let's make an appointment then,” Dan pulled out his phone. He looked up the number he’d stored in his phone when Griffin had given them the case, and he listened to the soft rings until he heard the bubbly receptionist’s loud voice. “Yes, hi, I would like to arrange an appointment with Mr. Pure for Dan Peters and Phil Patton.”

 

***

 

Dan giggled and looked at Phil, who was also holding in a chuckle. The two of them had gotten an innumerable amount of dirty looks on the streets after they started holding hands.

 

“Some people really can’t handle this kind of stuff, can they?” Phil murmured as a mother shielded her son’s eyes from being “exposed to the homosexuals,” as she had muttered quite loudly to her husband. Dan squeezed Phil’s hand a bit. He actually quite liked holding his hand. It was big and warm. Dan blushed, and hoped Phil couldn’t see. We're co-workers on a case. Nothing else.

 

They rounded a corner in the busy streets of London, and saw the building they were looking for: Austin's Weddings. It was a large, extravagant looking place, complete with a frilly white and pink awning, golden door frames, and large silver handles.

 

Phil rolled his eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”

 

The door handle was cool under Dan’s touch, and he pulled it open swiftly. Sitting at the front desk was a woman with bleached blonde hair and a business suit.

 

“Do you lovebirds have an appointment?” she asked with a fake smile and shining white teeth.

 

Dan looked nervously at Phil. Even after intense training and many other cases investigating crime, he still couldn’t handle social situations. Phil seemed to get the message.

 

“Hi, um, we’re Dan Peters and Phil Patton. We reserved a six p.m. appointment with Mr. Pure.” Phil said, sounding just as nervous as Dan felt.

 

The woman blinked. “Oh! You’re the cute couple Austin was gushing about! Of course! Have a seat, he’ll be out in a minute for you two.” She gestured to a small waiting area with seats and magazines. The two “lovebirds” sat down and pulled up a large magazine to hide their conversation.

 

“She’s probably the second-to-last person to leave this place,” Dan whispered. “Pure probably leaves last.”

 

Phil nodded in agreement. “We should wait outside afterwards and wait ‘til he–”

 

“Alright you two, break it up!” a loud, heavily accented voice interrupted Phil. Dan could hear the receptionist snort in amusement. Pure snatched the magazine from their hands. “I know it’s hard to keep the lips apart, but that’s okay.”

 

Dan felt his face flush an ugly shade of red. His eyes darted to where Phil was, and he was in the same situation.

 

The wedding planner laughed a hearty laugh, filling the entire room. Dan winced as the sharp, obnoxious sound cut through his eardrums. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to get you two the perfect wedding location, and you can have the rest of your lives together!”

 

He took them both by the hands and hoisted them up. It was quite funny, seeing that Dan and Phil were at least a foot and a half taller than him. Phil shot Dan a look of pure desperation as Pure dragged them into the unknown abyss of the overly-pretty building.

 

***

 

“That took over two hours, Phil,” Dan complained. “It was awful. I didn’t care if the wedding’s on a beach or in the woods, I just wanted out.”

 

“At least we won’t have to wait as long for him to close up,” Phil reasoned.

 

The two full-grown, very tall adults were squatting in the bushes outside of the building. Dan did not want to spend half an hour afterwards getting the grass stains and thorns out of this brand new black jeans, but Phil took none of the bullshit Dan was giving him. So there he was, crouching like a monkey in the midst of leaves and bugs.

“Any minute now,” Phil whispered. Just as he spoke, Pure and the receptionist stepped out of the building and locked the doors. They rounded a corner and Dan could hear their car rev and drive away.

 

“Let's go.”

 

The two boys ran to the door. 

 

Dan grabbed the handle and was prepared to pull, but Phil grabbed his hand. “Stop. There might be an alarm. There must be a back door or maybe somewhere on the roof where we can get in.” 

 

They walked around the side of the building to the back, where they spotted another door. There didn’t seem to be any alarm or cameras around this one, so Dan tried to handle. “Ugh, it’s no use. This one’s locked.”

 

“Are you sure there’s no alarm?” Phil asked.

 

“Pretty sure, yeah. There aren’t any wires or a box or anything.”

 

“Okay, just give me a second then.” Much to Dan’s surprise, Phil pulled out a tiny box from his pocket. He proceeded to open it, take out what looked like metal toothpicks, and start to pick the lock.

 

Dan’s jaw fell open. What was this, a spy movie? “Phil, why do you have that with you?”

 

He thought he saw Phil pause, hesitating. “I thought we might be doing something like this.”

 

It only took him a couple more moments, and the door swung open. “You go look around, I’ll walk around to the side and keep watch. I’ll let you know through the earpiece if anything happens,” Phil said. 

 

For once, Dan was glad for the precautions they were required to take any time they went out on an assignment, like having small earpieces they could use to communicate if they got separated.

 

They split up, and after closing the door behind him, Dan made his way to Austin Pure’s office. He looked around for anything that could point them to a suspect, or possibly incriminate Pure. He shuffled through Pure’s file cabinet and had just spotted a file that said CONFIDENTIAL in big, red letters, when an urgent whisper interrupted his train of thought. 

 

“Dan,” Phil said into Dan's earpiece, “Abort, grab what you can.”

 

Dan's heart dropped into his stomach. This was not supposed to happen. In a split-second decision, he decided to grab the file. “Alright, alright, I have a file; it could be important.”

 

“Just hurry.”

 

Dan exited the room, walking quickly into the hallway to head towards the back door, when he heard the doorknob at the front turn behind him. He darted into the first open door he saw and waited, heart pounding, as Pure walked by the doorway.

 

After waiting for a few more seconds, he peeked around the corner. He could see the back door, and he didn’t think Pure was on his way back through yet. He dashed to the door, pushing it open and then closing it with the smallest click, thanking every god he could think of that the door didn’t squeak.

 

A minute later, Dan and Phil were running off, having narrowly avoided this dangerous encounter. 

 

“I heard him muttering,” Phil panted when they stopped running, “That he had left something at his office. Good thing I noticed him.”

 

“Seriously–that could’ve been bad,” Dan replied in between heavy breaths.

 

Phil laughed. “It's fine. Hopefully you found something useful.”

 

***

 

They took a bus back to Phil's apartment, and looked through the file that Dan had discovered. Turns out, there was dirt on Pure, although not the kind that would close the case. Austin Pure was guilty of tax evasion. 

 

“I still don’t think we should let him off. This doesn’t rule out the fact that he could be the suspect,” Dan said grimly. 

 

Phil nodded. “We can’t let this investigation die off. People's’ lives are at risk. But for the moment we should focus on what we do know, and right now we don’t have any evidence that Pure could be the murderer other than his connection to the victims.”

 

“We still have a long ways to go,” Dan said dejectedly.

 

“I know,” Phil responded. “But we can hand this part of the case off to another team tomorrow, and they can get the warrant to investigate and arrest Pure for what he did do. So I guess we can at least take a little break for now.”

 

Dan nodded in agreement, cheering up a bit. “You wanna get some coffee?”

 

Phil smiled back at him. “I would kill for some coffee.”


	4. chapter 4: vegapancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by vega/vegapancakes!

Chapter 4

 

The chime rang as Phil pushed open the door on the coffee shop, holding it open for Dan to walk through. The brunet smiled at the elder as he strode into the Starbucks, the pungent smell of coffee beans hitting his nose. That’s to be expected, Dan, he thought with a roll of his eyes.

 

This particular hangout had high ceilings and vibrantly-coloured walls that made Dan’s eyes hurt with the fluorescent lighting contrasting to them. Along the walls were black decal writings, all saying different words in one big cluster that made the ameteur detective reminice back to primary school where they had to use Tagxedo. Most of the words barely related to coffee, like dessert, while others were just miniscule details about coffee like whipped créme.

 

Dan scoffed at the obvious overachievement of the architects when all this was another location for one of the largest coffee businesses in the world, not needing such unique effort in each building across the UK.

 

“Dan! You coming?” Phil’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts as Dan looked over to see Phil waiting for him at the register. 

 

“Uh, yeah,” he muttered, quickly pacing towards the counter where Phil and the teen cashier stood. As Phil ordered, Dan got a closer look to see the worker had blond scene hair that swept across their forehead. They wore eyeliner in a messy curve on their lower eyelids, and numerous wristbands went all the way up to their elbow on each arm. 

 

Several were black or other dark colours, mostly band names on each one. Dan let out a huff upon seeing no Muse or My Chemical Romance bands donned. Oh god, it was only about six years ago when I was the one being edgy and angry at the world, Dan thought with a shudder.

 

“Sorry sir, we’re all out of that. The closest thing we have is a caramel latte,” the teen spoke quickly, keeping their eyes on the counter.

 

“That’s fine, I’ll just have that in a grande,” Phil smiled, moving out of the way for Dan to order.

 

“Cliché,” he coughed under his breath as he glanced at Phil with a smirk. Phil just rolled his eyes as Dan turned to the barista. “I’ll have a grande white chocolate mocha, please.”

 

“Name?”

 

“Dan,” he said, placing a five on the counter next to Phil’s.

 

“You’re going to die of a sugar overdose, Dan.” Phil laughed as they walked towards a booth.

 

“At least I’ll die happy,” the younger pouted. They sat down in the booth across from each other, Phil placing his hands on the table.

 

“Well, it’s time to talk about the serious matters.” Phil grinned while his partner raised an eyebrow. “Is it care-uh-mel, care-mel, or car-mul?”

 

“Care-uh-mel, obviously.”

 

This response brought upon Phil arguing that Dan was ‘too posh for existence’ and that it was car-mul. Dan quipped that Phil wasn’t fourteen anymore and didn’t have to act American to be cool. His face went bright red at that as he glared, but there was clearly no malice in it as he started giggling right after.

 

“Dan, and...Susan!” a worker from the counter called, prompting Dan to stand up to get his coffee, only to see Phil follow him.

 

The woman placed Dan and Susan’s drinks down just as they walked up. He picked up his drink and stared at Phil in bewilderment as he picked up Susan’s coffee. The Starbucks worker had the same expression.

 

“Uh, sir–”

 

“Oh, I’m Susan.” Phil smiled before turning on one heel and walking towards their booth again. Dan sent a confused glance towards the woman before following his partner, sliding into the leather seat.

 

The two stared at each other for a moment before bursting into fits of giggles, trying to keep their voices down as others looked at them from other tables. 

 

“I can’t believe you put your name down as Susan!” Dan snickered.

 

Phil shrugged, letting an adorable smirk cross his face. “Keep life full of surprises, you know?”  
The brunet grinned before taking a sip of his drink, the foam shooting through first before the white chocolate liquid filled his mouth. 

 

“Mmm,” Dan moaned, leaned his head against his hand. “I’m going to bathe in this.”

 

After that, Phil launched into a story on how he was so anxious the night before he started working on his biggest case that he stayed up and reread the paperwork over and over and ended up falling asleep on the bus to work the next morning. “Luckily I was next to the window, or I could’ve fallen asleep on some poor old lady who just wanted to go to the market or something!” Phil grinned.

 

One thing Dan noticed about Phil Lester was that he was a lot more childish and carefree under his hard exterior of top detective. He didn’t bother keeping formalities in their conversations as they went from topic to topic, not bothering to act as if they were only colleagues. He treated Dan like he was a long-time friend, talking about recent adventures more than old memories.

 

Another thing Dan noticed was that when the black-haired man laughed, his tongue stuck out on the left side of his teeth as he often closed his eyes or squinted to nearly the point of no vision from happiness. Cute, was all Dan could think, before immediately wondering why he just placed Phil Lester as cute.

 

The thing was, Phil was cute. And not talking about his looks, although he sure didn’t have trouble in that department. He had a cute personality that reminded Dan of a kind teacher or someone who took care of children with big smiles and lots of hugs. A personality that definitely wouldn’t usually come with a detective.

 

As he spoke, Dan chiming in every now and then, often pushing his fringe up from his forehead only to pat it down seconds later, ridding himself of a quiff.

 

The two didn’t even think of talking about work and their current case, and instead talked as if they were just casually out together, not having just broken into a building for illegal documents. As Dan sat in this little coffee shop on a corner of West Banks Street with Phil Lester, he paused for a moment before realizing this could be counted as a date.

 

The thought, even though his mind protested against it, made him smile before putting in a joke towards Phil’s current story. 

 

The smile carried on his face throughout the entire time they were there, even following him home and into the late night.


	5. chapter 5: mogars-sword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by mogars-sword/em!

Chapter 5  
Coffee and murder. 

 

Not what Dan was expecting first thing in the morning, and yet there he was, holding one in one hand and staring down at pictures of the other. 

 

“Amara Wallace,” Phil said gravely as he spread his long, thin fingers over the table. He was bent at the waist as if in pain, or grief, or maybe just fatigue. The bags under his eyes betrayed how exhausted he was; he must have been up all night going over the case only to be faced with this: more death. 

 

“She was a twenty seven year old pianist. Recently, she’s been hired for multiple same sex weddings. She was last seen by her girlfriend, Nina Beys, when she went to the grocery store to pick up some food. She was found at approximately 3:20 in the morning on the side of the road. She never made it to the store.” 

 

“Another one,” Dan breathed. “What’s the story?” 

 

“Traces of dirt and mud were found on her shoes. We think she may have been stopped by the attacker and tried to flee. There was dirt under her nails, leading us to believe she attempted to fight back or crawl away after the initial blow. In addition to the stab wounds, there was an abrasion on the back of her head pictured here–” he signaled to the image closest on the table to him, “that we think was made by an object thrown to slow her.”

 

Dan frowned. A million things seemed wrong with all of this, but he couldn’t put his finger on just one. Why had her body been left on the side of the road where it could be easily found? Why chase down such a specific person? And why hadn’t he been called when Amara was found dead so he could assist in the investigation? 

 

Dan could feel his elation at the coffee “date” fizzling away under the revelation that, while they had accomplished a little, there was still a long way to go.

 

I guess Phil doesn’t think much of me anyway if he couldn’t be bothered to call me down for the investigation. I don’t know what I was thinking yesterday, Dan thought.

 

“Any leads?” he asked, trying to narrow his thoughts down to one problem; his injured pride could be dealt with later. 

 

Phil ran a hand through his mussed hair with a sigh. “It was almost three thirty in the morning on a back road. Anyone could have passed through there. I feel like, even with the new information this gave us, we’re back to square one.” 

 

“Did we even learn anything?” Dan asked as his heart sunk lower and lower into his shoes. 

 

“We dusted for fingerprints, but it looks like the attacker was wearing gloves. There were footprints in the mud at the crime scene. We’re guessing he’s an adult male based on shoe size, but it’s easy to wear the wrong size to throw investigators off. At least he’s sloppy enough that we kind of have a lead on his sex.” He sounded a bit bitter. 

 

“Phil,” Dan said as he hesitantly put a hand on Phil’s arm, “Are you feeling okay?” 

 

Phil smiled weakly. “I’m fine. Just a little frustrated, you know? A lot of people have died, and if we don’t stop this man a lot more will.” Then, much to Dan’s surprise, he leaned his head on Dan’s shoulder. Dan felt his breath catch in his throat. 

 

Okay, so maybe I have a little bit of a crush. 

 

Dan was relaxing into the pose, even daring to lean his head onto Phil’s a little, when Phil straightened up without warning, causing Dan to jump in response. Phil took a few steps away and shook his head as if clearing it. 

 

“Um, anyway,” he said, pacing beside the table, “So, the investigation…” 

 

Dan’s face was burning with a blush even if he hadn’t been the one doing anything. Except there was nothing to do because nothing had happened really. And yet he felt elated and giddy and oddly embarrassed all at once. 

 

“Yeah?” 

 

Phil was nervously gathering up the pictures on the table as if he needed to be doing something with his hands. “I was thinking we could visit Pure’s office again today to look around some more. Maybe with less sneaking in this time. I wanted to look around for any logs for potential future victims and make sure we didn’t miss anything important the first time. Are you ready?” 

 

Dan felt the opposite of ready. His cup of lukewarm coffee had barely a sip out of it, he was barely dressed nicely enough to go outside, and his head was still swimming with everything that hadn’t happened. But he smiled anyway. 

 

“I’m ready.”


	6. chapter 6: starmvn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by starmvn/mads!

Chapter 6  
There wasn’t anything too unusual about Pure’s office the second time around, so Dan figured the two of them would be moving on to other leads the next day. Dan had suggested staying the night at Phil’s to spend more time investigating the case on their off day; Phil thought it was a marvel idea, but he was quite persistent on staying at Dan’s instead. 

 

“I’ve been so caught up in this case that my flat’s atrocious,” Phil insisted. “It’d put my family’s name to shame if I let someone see it.”

 

Dan went along with it, figuring his own flat was decent enough to house Phil on the sofa for the night. The next day was an off day, after all, and both had a mutual agreement of spending as much time on this case as possible. 

 

But it was the next day, and Phil was nowhere to be seen. The sofa looked like it had hardly been touched, and there was no physical evidence of Phil ever being in the living room; it was as if Phil had never been there at all. No stray socks, no coat accidentally left behind, nothing.

 

Dan was about to call Phil and ask what was going on when he glanced at the coffee table and noticed a small scrap of paper on the table. He was positive it hadn’t been there before, and the handwriting was unfamiliar to him. Dan sat his phone down for a moment and picked the scrap from the table.

 

“Had a family emergency. Be back tomorrow. –Phil”

 

Dan couldn’t help but be concerned, so he went back to his phone and called Phil. The receiver rang once, twice, three times before Phil’s voice garbled through the speaker: “Hello?”

 

“Hey, it’s Dan,” he started, despite knowing that Phil already knew that. “I just woke up and saw your note, is everything okay?”

 

“Yeah, it’s alright. Just a family emergency, but things are alright.”

 

Dan didn’t really understand why Phil didn’t seem to want to go any further in detail about it, but he didn’t want to drag anything out of Phil that Phil didn’t want to share. Phil was already pretty private about his personal life, anyway.

 

“Well that’s good, I think,” Dan replied. “And you won’t be back until tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah, sorry.”

 

“It’s fine, don’t worry. See you tomorrow, I guess.”

 

“Bye.” Phil hung up abruptly.

 

Dan still wasn’t sure why Phil was being so private about his so-called “family emergency,” but he figured it was best to simply leave it at that.

 

***

 

Dan had an odd feeling throughout the rest of the morning that he just couldn’t shake. 

 

He figured he was hungry, so he ate. He figured he needed a shower, so he showered. He figured he was still a bit tired, so he napped.

 

But that odd feeling remained.

 

So Dan went for a walk. Walks have always been the best at helping Dan sort his thoughts and clear his mind.

 

Dan first walked to the coffee shop he and Phil had frequented since they took on the case, ordering his usual white mocha and finding himself a quiet corner of the shop to sip his coffee in. He’d been to this coffee shop before the case, but he wasn’t particularly fond of it; he found the baristas rude and the atmosphere stuffy in a metaphorical, pretentious, underground-hipsters-smoking-e-cigarettes-and-having-poetry-readings-at-midnight way. 

 

Yet, for some reason, today he felt drawn to it, compelled to drag himself to the very corner he and Phil sat in to discuss the case and be coupley with each other. Mock-coupley, he meant.   
We’re not a real couple. Dan couldn’t believe he had to remind himself of the fact. 

 

He quickly shook his head, thinking the simple notion would scramble his thoughts into something he much preferred to think about, like the case or how he should call his mum or the way Phil’s eyes crinkled in that cute way when he laughed–

 

No! Dan mentally scolded himself. He’s your colleague, your co-worker, not somebody you should be making goo-goo eyes over from across the table in a goddamn coffee shop that you don’t even like, Dan reminded himself once again. Phil wasn’t even there, and yet Dan could vividly see him sitting on the other side of the table, his hair pushed back from constantly running his hands up through it in thought, his pink lips pursing in the most kissable way before the cup reached his lips– Dan! Control yourself! 

 

He shook his head again, but this time the thoughts didn’t shuffle into something more useful, something more normal. He turned his head towards the line of people waiting to order coffee, pickpocketing Phil’s features from the face of every customer: the thin man at the front of the line had Phil’s pale complexion as it peeked out from his shirt collar and sleeves, the stout woman with her toddler had Phil’s piercing blue eyes, and the little girl standing hand-in-hand with her father had Phil’s dark hair twisted into a french plait.

 

Dan looked back across the table again, picturing Phil’s slender fingers grasp at his coffee cup, imagining how those fingers would feel when laced between his own, when placed on his waist, when woven tightly through his hair– 

 

STOP! Dan looked around the coffee shop and noticed a slew of people staring at him with wide eyes. Shit, did I say that out loud? 

 

In a nervous panic, Dan quickly stood from the table, dropping his half-full cup into a trash can and rushing out the door. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, staring down at his shoes as he walked.

 

I’m not gay, Dan preached to himself as he walked. I’m not even bi. I mean, I’ve always liked girls, always dated girls, always done things with girls. Dan couldn’t find a single reason to have such a massive, cringey, teenage girl crush on Phil. Girls have always been Dan’s thing, his forte, so why is he all of a sudden so infatuated with a boy, a man, he hardly knows?

 

You hardly know him, Dan repeated. You don’t know his middle name or his birthday or his favorite colour. How can someone like a person they know nothing about? And how can you like a boy? You’re straight, aren’t you? 

 

Dan stopped in his tracks, creating a small pedestrian jam behind him, which would’ve bothered him if he wasn’t so focused on the thoughts at hand. Almost simultaneously, Dan remembered every single male celebrity he’d ever found even remotely attractive. 

 

Countless images of dark hair and pale skin flipped their way through Dan’s mind like a rolodex of Dan’s forgotten male crushes, ringing one thing that was certain to be true: Dan had a type, and his type was Phil.

 

In an instant, Dan wanted to know everything about Phil. He wanted to know Phil’s middle name and his birthday and his favorite colour. He wanted to know how Phil took his coffee, what his favorite brand of cereal was, if he was a night-shower type or a morning-shower type, what he majored in at university, what his Hogwarts house was, how he liked his tea, what he did for fun, what types of tv shows he watched, anything and everything Dan could ever possibly want to know about another human being.

 

Rationally, Dan knew that it would never work out. Dan was positive that Phil was, like, 99.99% straight. And despite that 0.01% chance that Phil was in some way attracted to dudes, it still would never work out. They were co-workers, nothing more. Besides, Phil’s type was probably anyone but Dan.

 

God, Dan thought. I’ve really gotta get it together. We hardly know each other, and what have we done? He’s been working almost 24/7 on the case and I’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with him–

 

Wait, love?


	7. chapter 7: skyboidjh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by skyboidjh/becca!   
> (im the one responsible for ao3 posting hi)

Chapter 7  
Dan went to work the next morning feeling anxious. Today seemed like the sort of day just waiting for something bad to happen, and he hadn’t heard from Phil at all since their brief phone call from the day before. Then, of course, there had been his newly discovered feelings–

 

Dan shook his head, as if to clear it. No, Phil is straight, remember? He told himself. 

 

He pulled open the door to the station with a sigh, waving to the secretaries half-heartedly as he made his way up to his office. He planned on looking for some new leads today, whether Phil was there or not. There had to be some connection beyond Austin Pure, he just knew it.

 

He settled down into his chair, spreading out the victim’s files all around. He was going to crack this one, no matter what.

 

It wasn’t twenty minutes into his search, however, that he was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. With a sigh, he stood to let them in. 

 

A hassled-looking intern stood before him, panting slightly as if he had been running. “Phil Lester’s in conference room three, he wants to see you, like, now. Two more victims have shown up on your case.”

 

Dan’s brow furrowed as he muttered his thanks to the intern before pushing past him to rush down to the conference room. So, Phil was there after all, and there had been two more victims killed. His mind raced at the thought that now the killer was killing two in one night, and what might happen if they didn’t manage to solve this quick. 

 

The conference room door was open, and Phil stood up as soon as Dan entered. 

 

“Their names are Alice Young and Mario Perlman. Alice was an assistant to Austin Pure, and Mario was getting married to a Jake Barton at the end of this month. Alice was killed the same way as the first four victims, with five stab wounds to the chest. She was found just outside of her home, at around 10 pm. No witnesses. She appeared to be taking the trash out. Mario had seven stab wounds and was found in a ditch near a gay club at around 3 am. We have pictures of them here–” Phil gestured to the large whiteboard in the room, where several pictures from before and after the victims had been killed were hung up with magnets. 

 

Dan stared at the information they had so far, which Phil had scrawled up on the board next to the pictures. Mario was an obvious outlier, both in that he didn’t work on weddings and the more violent nature of his death. Suddenly, a lightbulb seemed to go off in Dan’s brain. “The other victims, were they working on Mario’s wedding?”

 

Phil nodded. “Looks like this was all related to him, or perhaps his fiancé?”

 

Of course. Why hadn’t they checked for specific weddings connecting them before? Dan glanced up at him, suddenly noticing dark bags around Phil’s eyes and a red tint around his eyes, like he had been crying. “Phil,” Dan asked softly. “Are you okay?”

 

Phil’s gaze shot up like he’d been shocked. “I’m fine. Anyways, about Alice, she was Austin Pure’s assistant. We bumped into her when we went in for that appointment with him, remember? The blonde lady, at the front desk. I’m surprised she was killed, because Pure didn’t have anyone lined up to take over the business after him, and the whole thing collapsed. Obviously, they weren’t working on the wedding anymore, so why go after her?” 

 

Noting how fast Phil changed the subject, Dan decided to press a bit further. “Phil, really. You don’t look so good. What happened? Maybe you should take the day off.”

 

“I’m fine! Did you even listen to what I just said about Alice?” Phil snapped. Dan took a half-step back, not being used to kind, funny Phil being so snappy. 

 

Phil sighed, dropping his head into one hand. “You’re right. I’m going to go home. Boss told me to tell you that he’s set up an interview for you with Jake, Mario’s fiancé, for two o’clock. Remember to go easy on him, and don’t press too hard, he’s just lost someone he loves.” Something in Phil’s eyes changed, but Dan wasn’t able to put a finger on what it was. 

 

“Alright, I will. You...you do the same, alright? Go easy on yourself.”

 

Phil just smiled weakly as he exited the conference room. 

 

***

 

Dan arrived at Jake Barton’s house just before two, taking a moment to prepare himself before knocking on the door.

 

Interviews were one of the worst parts of his job, something he had quickly learned from the few he had done so far. He was always talking to people who had lost someone, whether it be family members, loved ones, or friends. Their grief was raw and loud, and he had to force them to talk in detail about the events that had torn their lives apart. 

 

Jake opened the door with a sad, fake smile. He invited Dan in graciously, as if nothing was wrong, but Dan could see the pain in his eyes and tear tracks on his cheeks. 

 

The lounge was full of pictures, of Mario and Jake getting engaged, at parties, watching the sunset, or just sitting around in their house. They tugged at Dan’s heartstrings as he did his best to make himself comfortable on the couch, as Jake had told him to before leaving to make a pot of tea for the two of them. 

 

He returned quickly, setting down two steaming mugs on the table. “So, how can I help you?” It hurt Dan to hear how forcedly light and upbeat his voice was, pretending as if nothing had gone wrong. 

 

“Thanks for the tea. We’re just going to do a bit of a casual interview. Do you mind if I record this, to take notes on later?” Dan asked, showing Jake his small recording device. 

 

“Not at all. What do you need to know?”

 

Dan flicked on the device, setting it down between them. “October 16, interviewing Jake Barton on the murder of Mario Perlman. Jake, was there anyone that might have wanted to... hurt Mario like this? People who didn’t like him, or might have some sort of grudge?” 

 

Jake shifted in his seat. “Not that I would know of, Mario was always very kind to everyone, he never mentioned anyone giving him trouble.”

 

“Did he ever mention any past lovers, maybe with whom things ended badly?”

 

“There were a few, but I don’t imagine any of them would be this violent,” Jake muttered, taking a sip of his tea. 

 

“Can I have their names, please? As many as you know, just to run background checks on.”

 

Jake recited the names, and Dan nodded as he did. “Where were you last night, at around two-thirty?”

 

Jake sniffled. “I–I didn’t, I wouldn’t, I love him–”

 

“I believe you, I just need to know for the records,” Dan said in a way he hoped was soothing. 

 

“I–I was here, doing some work that I had fallen behind with while planning the wedding, I talked to a few of my co-workers, they can confirm it.”

 

“Was Mario going out with any friends?”

 

“Yes,” Jake replied, listing a few more names. 

 

Dan thought for a moment, then asking a few more questions that were simply protocol, with basic answers, about Mario’s past with crime, alcohol, drugs, and a few control questions that would enable a lie detector to grade his other answers.

 

Soon the interview was over, and Dan stood, shaking Jake’s hand. “Thank you for your time, I’m very sorry for your loss. Here’s my office number, if you find out any more information call me, alright?”

 

Jake nodded, tucking the thin card into his back pocket. “I will.”

 

Dan turned to leave, but stopped when Jake spoke again.

 

“Wait, Mario didn’t have any enemies, but as for me...Well, I had a bit of a bad breakup a few years back–we were going to get married. He seemed really unstable after I broke things off, and I’m not saying he did anything, but...” Jake trailed off, hesitating. 

 

Dan turned back around, coming back into the lounge. “Jake, who was it?” he asked, frowning with concern. “Are you safe?”

 

“I–No, he wouldn’t come after me, he still loves me apparently. He–his name’s Phil Lester?” 

 

Jake continued to speak, but Dan barely heard him. “Phil Lester?”

 

“Y–yes, that’s his name.”

 

“Thank you for your time,” Dan repeated numbly, walking out of the front door of the flat.


	8. chapter 8: phanimist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by julia/phanimist!

Chapter 8  
Phil closed the door to his flat and fell onto his couch, ignoring the littered paper on the cushions as he put his face in his hands. God, he was tired after the day’s events, and it was barely even noon. To be fair, he’d been up for hours on end, but it wasn’t like he could have predicted any of this. Why had Jake’s family even called him to their ‘family emergency’? Did they not get it? 

 

Phil could still see Jake lopping towards him in the hospital lobby with tear streaks on his cheeks, could still feel Jake’s arms wrapped around him as he began to sob into his shoulder. Phil could still feel the heaviness of his own arms as he’d reached drape them around Jake’s waist, faking a look of sympathy as he was facing Jake and Mario’s family members. 

 

Phil knew he meant nothing to Jake, absolutely nothing, yet he still felt his heartstrings tug. Here was the man who had called their wedding off mere days before it was due to happen, and he was running back to Phil like a second choice after Mario’s death. Phil should despise the man, and most days he did, but with the familiar arms wrapped back around him Phil could feel the relapse hitting him. 

 

He’d taken a deep breath, forcing all the emotions down, and had remembered why he’d gone through with this in the first place. He had to remember that Jake hadn’t chosen him. 

 

Phil sat on the couch, unmoving, for what felt like hours before his phone rang, snapping him out of whatever daze he’d been in. Sluggishly, Phil uncurled himself from the couch and got up to retrieve his phone on the kitchen counter. Dan’s face was illuminated on his call screen. It was a photo Phil had subtly taken of the man when they’d gone to the coffee shop (upon Phil’s realization that he didn’t have a contact photo for him). 

 

It was a good picture of him. His cheeks were slightly flushed, giving him a warm look as though he'd recently been laughing. The smallest of content smiles rested on his lips, and as he sat against the backdrop of the cozy coffee shop he looked like the embodiment of comfort. Phil sighed and picked the phone up on the last ring.

 

“Hey, how’d the interview go?” he answered, his voice sounding tired and dejected even in his own ears.

 

“Fine, it’s–” Phil heard Dan sigh heavily. “Yeah, fine.” When Dan didn’t continue, Phil prodded.

 

“Why only fine?” Phil asked, knowing the likely answer. After a pause, Dan spoke again.

 

“Phil– You know Jacob Barton, don’t you?”

 

Phil had to withhold a bitter scoff. He really wished he didn’t, today especially. He couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that he’d had since Jake’s family had called him this morning. They had to know what they were doing to him, didn’t they? Maybe not, Phil realized. Nobody seemed to have a clue, despite how sloppily he’d been at hiding it last night. 

 

“He thinks I killed Mario, doesn’t he?” Phil mumbled, rubbing at his temple with his free hand as he moved to sit down.

 

“He mentioned you.” Dan sighed. “I just– He left you when you were engaged?”

 

Phil could hear the care in Dan’s voice, the sympathy and the almost anguish he was presenting. Dan was too caring, too kind, and too good for Phil. Phil had been deemed a suspect by someone directly affiliated with this case, and here was Dan making sure he was okay. 

 

No, Phil realized. Dan could know perfectly well what he was doing; he could be looking to lure Phil into a sense of security where he’d be ready to answer questions. Phil had to keep a guard up, but a cautious one at that. He couldn’t have the investigation deem him as a suspect now, not when he and Dan had come so far with it. 

 

“I’m fine, Dan, really. That’s not what this is about right now.” 

 

“It kind of is,” Dan replied softly. “Look, can I come over? I really need to talk to you about it in person. I know I said you should take the day off, but all of this–”

 

“Yeah, Dan, that’s fine. I get it,” Phil interrupts. “Door’s open. I’ll be home.”

 

After a few brief words, Dan had hung up and Phil was once again left to the quiet of his flat. He ran a hand through his disheveled fringe and took a look around him, calming down and rethinking his next steps. He needed to find a way to get him off of the suspect’s list with certainty, thoughts of Jake on his mind or not. He’d worked too long with this case to go to prison.

 

***

 

Dan let himself into Phil’s flat fifteen minutes later after a drive that felt like an eternity. He couldn’t seem to think clearly through the entirety of the drive, thoughts of Phil plaguing his mind. Could Phil have done it? Jake Barton left him after their engagement; who wouldn’t be bitter? Dan really couldn’t think. Every part of him was aching for it not to be Phil. He'd grown increasingly fond of his partner, and Dan liked to think that he knew Phil’s personality quite well by now.

 

If one good thing came of this, it was that Dan knew that Phil wasn’t straight. He honestly couldn’t believe that was where his mind was taking him. 

 

“Phil?” Dan called tentatively, wandering into the flat. 

 

“In the lounge,” Phil called back. Dan could still hear the stress in his voice. As soon as Dan appeared in the doorway, Phil looked up from where he was slouched on the couch, looking even more tired than he had been this morning. Dan had come with a game-plan to confront Phil and ask his colleague questions surrounding Jacob Barton, but any thought of that was thrown completely out of the window upon seeing Phil. 

 

There were bags under his eyes, his hair was a mess, and he looked like he’d been crying recently. “Hey,” he greeted quietly, and Dan immediately moved to sit beside him in what space Phil had left on the sofa.

 

“You look like death,” Dan commented jokingly, hoping to ease the mood a little. If anything, Phil simply faked a smile and slouched back into the couch. 

 

“Feel like it,” he replied, closing his eyes. Dan knew that look. He was holding back tears. 

 

“Hey,” Dan called lightly, brushing Phil’s messy fringe away from where it was falling in his eyes. Phil opened his eyes to look up at Dan, momentarily holding a neutral expression before he finally seemed to crack. 

 

“His family called me to the hospital when they got news of Mario,” he choked, tears spilling from his eyes. Dan’s heart ached seeing Phil like this. He had to wonder why Jake had mentioned not having seen Phil in ages. Maybe he’d felt bad about leaving the man in pieces. Regardless of whatever was going on with Jake, Dan ached to help Phil. His bubbly persona was gone, and Dan wanted more than anything to bring it back. “They saw it as a family ordeal. They still saw me as family,” he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut as more tears rolled down his cheeks. Dan moved a hand to wipe them away, but it didn’t stop Phil from continuing to cry.

 

“Phil–” Dan whispered, pulling the older man into his side. He didn’t know what else to do or say; Phil looked absolutely broken. Phil buried his face into Dan’s chest, arms wrapped around his waist, and Dan could only play with his hair comfortingly, willing the other’s smile to return. 

 

“He ran to me, at the hospital–Jake did.” Phil mumbled. “God, I was so wrecked when he left me, and I had gotten so much better after all the time had passed. Seeing him again, feeling him wrap his arms around me again...” Phil trailed off. Dan pulled him closer, mumbling words of comfort into the other’s hair. “It was almost like he cared again, but I’m a second choice; second to his dead fiancé. Even then, he suggested me as a suspect. I’m nothing, Dan.”

 

“You’re anything but nothing, Phil,” Dan insisted quietly in response.

 

After a few minutes of them sitting in silence, Phil’s sobs seemed to slow to a halt, and he lifted his face from where it was hidden in Dan’s sweatshirt, keeping their close proximity due to the comfort it gave him. 

 

“Sorry, I just–” he began to offer a small, bashful looking smile following the comment. Dan shook his head. 

 

“No, no, it’s fine. I wish I could help,” Dan replied. 

 

Phil searched Dan’s face, seeing nothing but care and worry in his usually bright eyes. Dan cared for him so much, whether they were only colleagues, or friends, or maybe something with the possibility of more. 

 

“It’s okay,” Phil said, soft smile adorning his face at the words. Dan could see the traces of sincerity in his expression. “Listening was far more than I could have asked of you.”

 

“That Jake guy doesn’t know what he’s missing.” Dan smiled. “Well, he’s technically missing two fiancés now.” Phil laughed. A genuine laugh. It brought a bigger smile to Dan’s face.

 

“You’re a better fake fiancé than he ever was a real one,” Phil replied, looking around the room and then back to Dan with full sincerity in his face. Dan had to look away, not being able to help the smile that formed on his face, but hoping he could help the blushing. 

 

“I’m happy to hear it.” 

 

Phil fell back onto Dan’s chest then, feeling comfort in his embrace. He was never supposed to grow so close to Dan; becoming attached was never supposed to be a part of their case. Somehow, he felt himself slipping further away from that concept. Dan was so kind to him, cared so much about him. Phil knew that he was far too good to be good for him. He had to be careful.

 

Dan dismissed any thought of Phil as a suspect. The way Phil had looked today, absolutely dejected in his arms, had proved that enough. He’d been called down to the hospital after the news of his ex’s fiancé’s death. That must have been awful. Not only had he dealt with the heavy emotions tied to Jacob, he’d also dealt with families he used to be close to in mourning, and the weight of the case on his shoulders. 

 

Beneath him, Dan could feel Phil’s breaths evening out, showing the older seemed to be relaxing into a sleep. Dan was glad, wrapping an arm around the other’s waist. Phil could use some rest.


	9. chapter 9: spookyscaryships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by jas/spookyscaryships !

#  **Chapter 9**

Phil woke up to a soft thud and cold feet. He reached out in search of a blanket when his arm, instead, came in contact with the even colder air. He realized it might be time to open his eyes, and found he was on the sofa in a tangle of throw pillows.

He pushed himself to a sitting position and look around the room when he heard a small whimper. He leaned over the couch and saw a man on the floor with messy curly hair and wrinkled clothes.

“Dan?” Phil asked, squinting at him.

“Phil?” Dan replied in a muffled voice.

“Why are you on the floor?”

Dan stared at Phil and raised his eyebrow. Phil cracked a smile, causing Dan to roll his eyes. They stared some more before Dan broke into a fit of laughter, and Phil followed. Soon they were bent over and heaving for air.

“Next time,” Phil choked out, “we should sleep on the bed.”

Dan stopped laughing and looked at Phil, who quickly realized what he had said.

“I didn’t mean – ”

“Yeah, no, of course,” Dan mumbled. He stood up and straightened out his clothes. “I’m gonna go get breakfast,” he said. “Want anything in particular?”

Phil also stood and brushed his hair back with his fingers, “Pancakes?” he suggested.

“Okay.” Dan smiled, and Phil picked up his laptop from the coffee table.

“I’ll be right back, Phil,” Dan called. 

Phil looked up to see Dan closing the door. He waved him off, looking back at his laptop to the sound of the door closing.

***

Dan walked up the street with a bag of warm pancakes and bangers in his left hand. There was a slight breeze that time of year, and in hindsight he probably should have driven to the restaurant instead of walking. He regretted not bringing a jacket with him. 

Not that he could have grabbed one. He was at Phil's house after all. It would have been awkward to ask if he could borrow a jacket. Still, Dan couldn't help but to think about what it would have been like to wrap himself in Phil's jacket. Maybe the black one he's so fond of, or the navy blue one that has a hood attached to it. That one was Dan's favorite. He could imagine the smell of Phil's cologne, and the warmth that would surely accompany it. Just like if Phil were to wrap Dan up in his arms. Nuzzle his neck. Press gentle kisses to it. 

Dan stopped in his tracks as a blush creeped up his face. He looked around as if he were a guilty schoolboy. God, when had he started liking Phil that much? It felt like just yesterday he had been working the desk job, filling out paperwork and keeping filing cabinets organized, someone Phil wouldn't have given a second glance. Now he was Phil’s partner and getting his full attention. The entire thing. Locked eyes and nodding, like there was no one more important than him.

Dan shook his head and took a deep breath before beginning to walk again. 

He really did need to stop thinking about Phil in a romantic way, he knew. After all, they were just partners. So what if they briefly pretended to be dating for the sake of the case? And so what if maybe they had a few non-businesses get togethers? And yeah, Dan was bringing breakfast to him after spending the night there. That didn't mean they were anything. Right? 

Dan reached the flat then, and knocked on the door. He only had to wait a moment before the door bursted open to reveal Phil in an unbuttoned shirt and shaky hands fiddling with jeans. 

“Phil?” Dan questioned. 

“There's been another murder,” Phil said, exasperated. His fringe was in his eyes, and he looked paler than usual.

Dan shuffled inside and closed the door, setting the food on the coffee table. “Where?” he asked.

“D-down the street,” Phil managed, finally finished buttoning his shirt.

“What? Just now?”

“Yeah,” Phil said, grabbing his wallet. “We should go.” He began walking to the door with his keys in hand, but Dan stopped him.

“Wait, Phil,” he said, catching the other man’s wrist.

Phil stopped in his tracks and looked at Dan. “Yes?” he asked.

“Are you okay? You know, to be on the job?” Dan questioned, his grip on Phil’s wrist loosening.

Phil took the chance to pull it away quickly and rubbed his hand. “I don’t appreciate you questioning my ability to work,” he stated.

“Yes, of course. It’s just, last night. You were...you know,” Dan explained.

“That was yesterday!”

“Yeah, but doesn’t this feel suspicious!?” Dan practically shouted.

“What do you mean?”

“There was a murder down the block, in the daylight! If it’s our guy, the MO is off!”

“The guys at the crime scene said there were 5 stab wounds, and this was a pastry chef who catered same-sex weddings. It fits the MO,” Phil argued, clenching his fist until it turned white.

“I’m just saying! Our guy is becoming really different, really fast,” Dan grumbled.

“Come on Dan, we have work to do,” Phil sighed, spinning around on his heel. 

Dan nodded, grabbing their breakfast and following him to the door. He momentarily lingered in the doorway, pushing a hand to his temples. Was it just him, or was the whole case beginning to hit closer and closer to home?

“Dan! Hurry up!” he heard. 

Dan took a deep breath. “Coming!” he yelled. He straightened himself and closed the door.


	10. chapter 10:humanityxpeople

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by courtney / humanityxpeople!

Chapter 10  
Buried underneath a sink full of “dirty” dishes lay a bloody knife. A small click and a stream of warm water washed the evidence away until there was nothing left. The phone rang faintly from the other room, the flow stopped, and the knife hid under the safety of plates, bowls, pots, and pans.

 

***

 

Dan sighed softly as he rubbed his temple, reviewing the details from the investigation at the restaurant. The security footage they watched revealed a tall man did the killing in the alleyway. However, that was as much information as they got because they couldn’t see his face.

 

“Are you alright?” Phil asked as he looked away from the computer.

 

“No,” Dan answered. He slumped back in the chair. He felt like a waste of a detective in that moment. “We don’t have another suspect. I don’t want anyone else to die, Phil.”

 

They had found one suspect, named Todd Jones, who was actually taller than the two of them. When they asked him about it, the man gave an alibi that could be proven by everyone and their mother. He went out to breakfast with his three children and loving wife.

 

“I don’t either.” Phil got up from his chair and moved around the desk, placing a hand on Dan’s shoulder that got his heart beating right out of his chest. “We’ll find the murderer, don’t worry.” He smiled and patted Dan’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

 

Dan nodded and smiled back. If this case didn’t go anywhere, maybe their relationship could. But there were more important things right now than the fact that the feeling of Phil’s touch still lingered after he left the room.

 

Thank god no one was in the room to see his cheeks warm up or the fact that he was smiling to himself like a crazy person because his case partner did innocent things to him.

 

“You should stay at my place tonight,” Dan blurted out when Phil sat in his desk chair again.  
Phil raised an eyebrow at Dan.

 

“I don’t mean you should stay at the house so we can sleep on the bed this time,” Dan said to make himself clear, avoiding eye contact for a moment. Stop making things awkward because you want there to be something between the two of you. “The murder was close to your home, and we visited Pure’s office too, so you could be a potential victim.” Now you just sounded paranoid and weird. Stop it.

 

Dan was sure Phil blushed a little bit at the bed comment. “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem, Dan. I’ll sleep at home.”

 

Dan nodded. Right, of course. They didn’t need to have a sleepover every day because of the case.

 

“Phil, I need to ask you something.” Dan bit his lip and tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair. “You didn’t go out at all while I grabbed breakfast for us, right?”

 

Phil’s muscled tensed, and his hands tightened into fists, then relaxed. “No, of course not. I watched some boring show to pass the time, then I got the call and you came home. You’re not actually accusing me of murdering the guy, are you?”

 

Dan gulped, wishing he could swallow the words that passed his lips. When Dan had watched the video earlier, his mind considered Phil for a moment. The thought made his stomach feel like it had been stabbed a couple of times.

 

He shook his head. “No. Thanks for clearing that up. I’m sorry I said anything, but you can understand why I thought that.”

 

“I guess.” Phil sighed.

 

Dan was disappointed in himself for ever thinking that about his idol, friend, and fake-fiancé. “I don’t honestly think you killed them.”

 

“Thanks.” Phil gave a weak smile and glanced at Dan. He relaxed his body. “We should go back to the restaurant.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Our murderer might be there. Maybe he’s a staff member or a regular we haven’t met yet.” Phil offered a sound suggestion, although Dan couldn’t grasp why the murderer would come back to the restaurant other than to sit and enjoy the fact that no one knew it was him. He needed this to work out. “We could try to lure the murderer with some marriage conversation.”

 

“So you want us to go on a fake date in case the murderer is there?” If you wanted to go on a real date out for dinner, you could have just said so. At this point, Dan sighed in his head every time he thought about Phil. The plan wasn’t bad, though.

 

“Yeah. How about we head back to our flats, then you can come pick me up at six?”

 

Phil literally just asked him out on a fake date. Today would be just incredible if this was a real date and they weren’t going to have dinner to find a murderer. “Sure.”


	11. chapter 11: queenramsia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by queenramsia/kirsten!

Chapter 11  
In his bathroom, Phil haphazardly splashed cold water on his face. He rubbed at his skin roughly, and at this point he didn’t even care how much water he got in his eyes.

 

He stared at himself in the mirror. He looked tired. He was tired. His eyes had dark circles under their rims, and they were swollen and bloodshot.

 

Blood seemed to be all he saw recently. It was everywhere. Even in his dreams he drowned in it. He had learned that it was easier not to sleep.

 

But he had come too far, too far, too far to let his mind leave him now. 

 

Too far. 

 

He had come too far.

 

Phil straightened and glared at his ravaged form in the mirror. He needed to clean up and stop acting like a maniac. Dan would be there in less than an hour.

 

Dan.

 

Never had he met anyone so naive. So...trusting. He was innocent and good–so, so good. He was everything Phil wanted, and everything he didn’t deserve. But it didn’t matter if he could have Dan or not. He had an agenda that couldn’t be disrupted.

 

Not even by pretty boys with deep brown eyes.

 

By the time Dan knocked on his door, Phil had managed to comb back his messy fringe and assemble a date-worthy outfit. He was even able to pull open the door with a smile plastered across his face. Dan gazed at him and it took all of Phil’s willpower not to break down.

 

He was just so kind, so caring, so trusting.

 

Phil had to get away from him. 

 

I have a job to do, Phil reminded himself.

 

“Ready to go?” Dan asked, shuffling awkwardly.

 

“Yeah,” Phil breathed. “Let’s go.”


	12. chapter 12: starmvn&phanimist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by starmvn/mads and phanimist/julia!

Chapter 12

 

Phil was avoiding his gaze. Dan wasn’t a rocket scientist, wasn’t a genius, and he didn’t even really know Phil that well now that he thought about it, but Phil was definitely acting off. 

 

Dan was driving them to the restaurant. Phil was staring out the window like his life depended on it, and Dan was partially too confused to attempt at starting a conversation. The odds were that Phil was stressed about their case. The murderer had left absolutely no tracks that either of them had been able to find, leaving the two detectives with what was essentially a dead trail to follow. That, and more people could be killed at any time.

 

The recent development of Phil’s stress levels had Dan partially on edge. He’d been so used to Phil’s cheerfulness, even through the heat of their murder case, and seeing it evaporate so easily was unnerving. He missed Phil’s bright smile and his happy eyes to the point where it was worrying. 

 

His feelings for Phil hadn’t gotten in the way of their case, at least. Dan had enough control as to limit that, but being alone in the car with the man on the way to their “date” in dead silence gave him more than enough encouragement to overthink things. He couldn’t stop wishing that Phil would return to the cheery version of himself that Dan had grown so fond of.

 

Phil had suggested this dinner “date”; whether his motive was really to work and investigate or not, Dan wasn’t sure. The other man’s mood had spiraled downhill since just this afternoon when Dan had partially accused him of all the murders. (Dan was still pissed at himself for even saying something like that. Phil? Of all people?) Dan had to make it up to him.

 

A small wave of determination coursed through his head. What Phil needed was a distraction from work. Maybe it would be helpful if Dan were to try and fish him out of his own head. He had the night with Phil, after all. He might as well make it enjoyable for the both of them, investigating the scene or not. 

 

A traffic light in front of them turned red, the car coming to a temporary halt. Dan turned to Phil with a little more confidence coursing through his veins. He tapped on the back of Phil’s hand which was resting on the seat between them. The gesture caught Phil’s attention, the other man turning to Dan.

 

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Dan frowned, still tapping on the back of Phil’s hand rhythmically with his fingers. Phil gave a court shrug, averting his eyes. 

 

“I don’t know.” he smiled shortly. Dan gave him a look.

 

“You can tell me, you know. I don’t bite.” Dan encouraged, resting his hand overtop of Phil’s in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. Phil looked down at their hands and blushed slightly before averting his eyes again. His reaction gave Dan another distracting swell of hope. Maybe their relationship could go somewhere.

 

“I know you don’t,” Phil replied with a chuckle. “You’re the definition of…I don’t know.”

 

“The definition of what?” Dan laughed. 

 

“Good,” Phil replied. 

 

“Good?” Dan asked, quirking an eyebrow despite the looming smile. Phil nodded.

 

“Yeah. Good.”

 

A wave of silence settled over the two of them, Dan still searching for a hint as to where Phil’s head was at in his facial expressions, the other still not making much eye contact at all. 

 

“Look, Phil, if I upset you by stupidly blaming–”

 

“It’s fine, Dan, I swear. Okay?” Phil replied curtly, snapping his head to face the brunet. Dan closed his mouth, stopping the flow of words immediately at Phil’s outburst. “I get where you were coming from. You were just keeping an open mind about the case. It’s good of you not to let personal relationships get in the way of a case like this.” 

 

Phil spoke like he was trying to convince himself of these facts too.

 

“But it was stupid.” Dan frowned. Phil turned his palm around and locked their fingers, seeming to reassure Dan. “You’ve been nothing but nice and welcoming to me, even though you were far better at the job than I was. I trust you more than I’ve trusted anyone in a long time, and I don’t know why I said anything like that. I shouldn't have even thought to blame you for the murders. I really am sorry if that’s what upset you.”

 

The light turned green, and a honk from a neighbouring car startled them into motion once more. Once they were moving again, Phil spoke. 

 

“Why do you trust me?” he asked quietly, referring to the previous statement, locking eyes with Dan. The brunet couldn’t quite read what emotions were floating around in his expression. 

 

“What do you mean?” Dan asked.

 

“Why do you trust me so much?” Phil repeated. “I was just another cop that you got paired up with for this case. You–” Phil sighed, collecting his thoughts. “We have no idea who the murderer is, Dan. I’m not anything extraordinary. I don’t know why you see ‘trustworthiness’ in someone like me. It’s not like I’ve gotten us anywhere on this case.”

 

“I trust you because of what I’ve seen of you throughout this entire time,” Dan said, looking at Phil somewhat incredulously, like he couldn’t believe that someone like Phil was so unsure of himself. “I’ve seen how much care you put forwards into this whole ordeal. You’re a hard worker, and I admire that,” Dan assured. “Plus, you welcomed me as your helping hand with open arms despite being way more qualified than me. I totally expected you to cast me aside, leaving all the work to you. I just really admire you as a person, I guess.”

 

“You thought that I’d cast you aside?” Phil laughed. Dan smiled back.

 

“Yeah! You were always the agency’s ‘golden boy’. I figured you’d have your head up your ass,” Dan replied. Phil burst into even more laughter. “I’ve since discovered that your head is nowhere near your ass, just to clarify.”

 

“I’m glad that we sorted that out, then,” commented Phil, shaking his head. They smiled at each other for a few solid seconds before something cleared in Phil’s expression. “I would have never cast you aside, by the way.”

 

“The thought didn’t even cross your mind, did it?” Dan replied, tilting his head slightly. He was becoming acutely aware of the fact that the two of them were still holding hands, but he wasn’t going to say anything. He was also desperately trying not to fidget so that Phil didn’t cut the contact off. 

 

Phil shook his head. “Of course not. I’d heard about you.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah! The secretary near my office thought you were cute. I heard about it whenever you’d walk by.” Phil chuckled. Dan nearly sputtered.

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yeah,” Phil laughed. “You cannot tell her I told you that.”

 

“Well, who can blame her?” Dan asked sarcastically, pretending to flip hair over his shoulder. 

 

“Not me,” Phil sighed as he gazed back at Dan with a bright expression. Dan beamed back at him, thrashing butterflies returning to his stomach. This was the cheerful Phil he missed. He missed the lighthearted conversations that were no way centred around work. “She’s not the lucky one who got to work with you though.”

 

Dan rolled his eyes. “Who says I wouldn’t rather have your neighbouring secretary as a partner?” Phil scoffed.

 

“I’m offended.”

 

“And I’m kidding.” Dan smiled. “You’re a great partner. Investigating these gruesome murders with you has been the most fun I’ve ever had.” 

 

“Nothing screams ‘fun’ like murder,” Phil sighed. Dan shook his head, laughing silently. 

 

Silence fell over the car for another few moments. 

 

“I’m really glad that Griffin paired us up for this,” Phil said finally, eyes darting back and forth between Dan’s before averting his gaze again. 

 

“I am too.” Dan smiled in reply. Phil squeezed his hand once more before finally dropping them, heart beating as he took a deep breath, returning his gaze to the window. 

 

The rest of the drive was spent in silence, but Dan wasn’t complaining this time. The mood had lightened considerably just on the drive to the restaurant. They hadn’t even properly sat down to enjoy the night’s main attraction yet. The giddy feeling in Dan’s chest was back. He was overly eager to sit with Phil all night, keeping more conversations floating over the tabletop between them. Even just the concept of Phil made him happy. The jokes, the personality, the looks. Dan was in deep.

 

When they finally pulled up to the restaurant, Phil was out of the car before it even fully came to a stop. Dan watched with a confused gaze as his partner darted around the car and reached to open his door for him, clearly trying to hide a smile as he did so. 

 

“How chivalrous,” Dan commented, stepping out of the car. Phil laughed.

 

“It’s the least I can do for my fake fiancé,” he replied brightly, rolling his eyes.

 

“We haven’t dropped that yet?” Dan chuckled. 

 

“Why would we?” Phil replied jokingly, elbowing Dan’s side. Dan shook his head, smile worming its way onto his lips. 

 

When they got inside, Phil was the one who stepped up to the hostess, taking Dan’s arm to tug him along behind. 

 

“Reservation for Lester?” he spoke. The person at the booth smiled at them, sliding along the seating chart until it came to a stop resting on the diagram of one of the tables at the back. 

 

“Right this way.” She smiled, gesturing for the two men to follow. Phil smiled at Dan, still tugging him along gently by the arm. 

 

“This place is a lot nicer than I thought it would be,” Dan mumbled lowly.

 

“It definitely looks a lot nicer since they cleaned the murder scene outside.” Phil agreed. Dan had to laugh, attempting to stifle the reaction with the back of his hand. He really shouldn’t be laughing, seeing as it was their job to be investigating these things, but being with Phil almost made him forget about work entirely. Almost.

 

“Speaking of, what exactly is the goal for tonight?” Dan asked. Phil shrugged as they reached their table, thanking the hostess as he leaned forward to pull Dan’s chair out for him to sit down. Dan took his seat gratefully, and slightly flustered. 

 

“Originally I thought that we could just keep an eye out for anyone who might be looking more particularly in our direction,” Phil replied. “See if we can pick anyone who looks suspicious out of the crowd, you know?”

 

“And that was your original idea?” Dan asked. Phil nodded, seeming to turn a few thoughts over in his head once or twice before speaking again.

 

“That plan was weak, to be honest.” Phil chuckled. “We’ll keep an eye out, but I think that we should just enjoy ourselves.” He looked very hesitant in his words. Dan rushed to reassure him, being all for the change in plans.

 

“I agree.” Dan smiled. “I would have probably enjoyed myself regardless, seeing as I would have been in your presence anyways.”

 

“Flirty,” Phil mumbled, taking a sip of his water as if to muffle his words. Dan had to count it as a small victory. Phil hadn’t shot him down at all. If anything, he seemed as if he were open to remarks like that. Maybe Dan did have a shot.

 

As the night wore on, and the two of them ordered, Dan couldn’t help but realize how Phil kept switching between being very fond of Dan to being stuck in his own head, lost in thought despite his outward contribution to conversations. It was like he was arguing with himself on how he should be acting. 

 

Dan hoped that it was because of nerves. He really wanted Phil to feel the same way. 

 

“Is it date night tonight?” The waitress winked, collecting their menus after taking their order. Phil shot Dan a bright look and a nod, reaching for his hand across the table. Dan let him take it. 

 

“Yep,” Dan replied in turn, motivated by Phil’s reaction, smiling up at the waitress. 

 

“I hope you enjoy your evening, then.” She nodded before striding away back to the kitchen. 

 

Dan had to wonder why they were keeping this facade up. They’d been told to act as a fake married couple for the sake of approaching Austin Pure, sure, but did they really need to keep it up now? Or was Phil enjoying the game of pretend as much as Dan was?

 

As the waitress left, Dan and Phil both wordlessly turned to each other, seeming to communicate without saying anything at all. Dan didn’t feel any pressure whatsoever from the gaze. He still felt comfortable with Phil even with all the butterflies in his stomach. If that didn’t tell him to go for it, he wasn’t sure what would.

 

“She seemed to buy it,” Dan started weakly, shrugging. Luckily, Phil played along and didn’t call him out. 

 

“Buy what?” He inquired with a smile, cocking his head. Dan shrugged. 

 

“The fact that we’re dating. Maybe we fit the label better than we thought.”

 

“I’ve always thought that we were rather good at the whole ‘dating’ concept, even if we weren’t dating.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Yeah.” Phil smiled back, locking eyes with Dan as the two of them shared a knowing look. This was beginning to become an episode of ‘I know what you’re trying to say but I’m not going to say it for you.’ Part of Dan just wanted to be straightforward about it and ask Phil out. The other part of him, the part of him that was winning, was the side of him that was rooting for a more vague approach, looking to beat around the bush. That’s exactly what he ended up doing.

 

The rest of the night, conversation flowed easily. Accidental hand brushing paired with happy eye contact and a light atmosphere were enough to send Dan’s heart fluttering, really wanting to tell Phil about the thoughts tossing and turning in his head, but also wanting to let Phil make the first move. Neither of them seemed inclined to do it, so they spent the rest of their evening casually dropping hints at every turn. Dan was waiting for them to snap.

 

When the waitress finally came to give them the bill, both Dan and Phil reached for it at the same time. Their hands bumped into each other, both grabbing at it and the other’s hand.

 

“I’ll pay,” Dan insisted, pulling the bill slightly towards him. Phil pulled his other hand from beneath the table and pried Dan’s fingers away, instead holding them in his own hand as he took the bill away from the brunet.

 

“No. I was the one who invited you out to dinner. I got this one.”

 

“I’m paying next time, then.” Dan frowned.

 

“So you’re down for a ‘next time’, too?” Phil smiled, tilting his head. Dan blushed slightly, but rolled his eyes fondly as Phil set the bill back down with his credit card attached, waiting for the waitress to return.

 

Dan was surprised when Phil not-so-discreetly grabbed his hand as they made their way to the parking lot. He had to resist the urge to swing their hands happily between them. Phil brought them both to a stop when they finally reached the car, a bright expression taking up every inch of his features.

 

He suddenly looked like he’d finally taken down hundreds of walls that he’d built around himself. Dan didn’t know what he’d been hiding or what he’d been hiding from, but he looked a lot more clear. He looked like he’d finally sorted his thoughts into piles and boxes and drawers and he’d come to a final conclusion of sorts. He looked happy.

 

“Thank you for tonight,” he smiled. Dan smiled back. 

 

“Thank you,” Dan replied, opening the passenger door. “After you.”

 

No matter how hard Phil tried, there was no way he could make clambering into the car not awkward. Dan didn’t really mind, of course. As he got in the car, he was focusing on other things, like Phil’s giggle when he finally situated himself on his side of the car, or the way the streetlights glowed a cool blue against his cheeks. He sounded like a teenage girl fawning over the school’s designated cute boy, but he didn’t mind it too much, stealing glances as often as he could in London’s ever-changing traffic. It’s not like Phil wasn’t nice to look at.

 

But maybe Dan had stared for a bit too long at one stop, falling out of his trance as the car behind him honked aggressively, causing Phil to glance at him and ask, “Enjoying the view?” with that same smirk that pissed Dan off and made him melt at the same time. Dan turned away, grateful for the darkness that filled the car and hid the ever-growing pink tinge on his cheeks. Phil didn’t seem to mind either, though, as he simply turned back to look outside the window.

 

As he pulled up outside his flat, Dan’s head kicked into overdrive, piecing together everything he could to convince himself that going on his first instincts and kissing Phil was a bad idea. Pro: he’s really cute. Con: he’s your co-worker. Pro: his lips look so damn kissable. Con: it’ll ruin everything. Pro: he might kiss back.

 

He might kiss back.

 

He might kiss back. 

 

Before he could even lift a finger, Dan felt the air between them grower smaller and thicker. Their eyes locked, and he managed to utter a small “Phi–” before the man whose name had hardly escaped his lips was kissing him. Dan finally let his first instincts take over, raising a hand to Phil’s cheek in an effort to pull him closer.

 

And just like the teenage girl fawning over the school’s designated cute boy, Dan finally understood what everyone meant when they said kissing someone you really like felt like fireworks.

 

The kiss was practically over before it began as Phil sank back to his side of the car. Dan still couldn't bring himself to wipe the stupidly excited grin off of his face as both shuffled out of the car without a word spoken.

 

Neither of them really knew what to say, standing almost out-of-place on the pavement outside of Dan’s building. Dan’s instincts kicked in once again, figuring, when in doubt, just kiss him again.

 

So that’s what he did. God, he thought the first kiss was incredible, but the second one was something else. It wasn’t fireworks, but something bigger. Almost as if the world around them had simply stopped, moving only for them and them alone. It was isolation like Dan had never felt before. An isolation that wasn’t lonely and cold, but intimate and warm. Could a kiss feel warm?

 

Dan didn’t have time to answer before Phil distanced himself once again, but this time he didn’t cower away, he simply pulled back. Dan wasn’t sure how it was possible, but their little bubble of isolation in a good way remained. He could hear the buzz of people talking about things he’d never understand and he could feel the cars blowing past, but all of that seemed to be worlds away. Their world was the dopey grins on their faces and they way their bodies shook from giggling. 

 

“So,” Phil said in a voice that was unknown to Dan. “Where does this put us?”

 

“Wh-what do you mean?” Dan stuttered.

 

“I mean, what are we? What do you want from us?”

 

Dan didn’t want to be scared of this, but if he were being honest, he felt more scared than ever.

 

“Can we go inside?” Dan said quickly, as their little world was closing all too soon.

 

“‘Course.”

 

Once inside, Dan was quick to resume the conversation. “You asked me what we are.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“And I don’t think I know the answer to that. Not now, anyway.”

 

Phil moved toward the sofa, sitting down on one side and patting the space immediately beside him for Dan. “Come sit.”

 

Dan obliged, falling somewhere between too close and not close enough.

 

“So I have a question,” Phil began. “And I want you to answer honestly.”

 

Dan tensed at the words. Phil seemed to have taken notice, adding, “It’s not a scary question,” in a tone that was meant to be reassuring. “Well, it shouldn’t be.”

 

Breathe in. Breathe out, Dan told himself. It’s only Phil. He inhaled once, exhaling sharply before nodding.

“H-how do you feel about me? About us?”

 

“I don’t think I know the answer to that, either,” Dan had never felt smaller and more vulnerable than he did right now, sitting in his own home on his own sofa with a man that managed to make the world stop with a kiss. 

 

“I mean,” he continued. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. It’s all new and strange and wonderful and more, and I don’t know how that’s possible. It’s like… it’s like when you’re a little kid, and everything is just fascinating. And learning new things gives you this strange sense of–oh, what’s the word?”

 

“Euphoria.”

 

“Yes! That’s it.” Dan smiled. “Anyway, you want to feel and see and experience everything you possibly can. And that’s how I feel about you, in the best way I can put it.”

 

Phil was speechless.

 

“Now,” Dan began again. “I’ve told you how I feel. But how do you feel?”

 

There was a pause, and then Phil took a deep breath. “I feel like I’m learning how to be a person again.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“I’m not sure, but I think I like it.”

 

They sat in silence for a moment, slowly inching closer and closer to one another.

 

“Hey, Phil?” Dan said quietly, looking straight forward.

 

“Yeah?” Phil responded, keeping the same forward gaze.

 

“Remember when you asked me what I wanted from us?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I think I know what the answer is.”

 

“And what’s that?”

 

Dan shifted his body to face Phil, and Phil shifted to face Dan in return.

 

“I want you.”


	13. chapter 13: starmvn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by starmvn/mads!

Chapter 13

 

Neither Dan nor Phil expected that a kiss and three simple words would put their world on a tailspin. Neither of them expected that six years after being put on a murder case together, they would be engaged. 

 

And of course, neither of them expected that after coming so close to solving one of the biggest serial killer cases London had ever seen, the case would run cold.

 

It was bizarre, really. After that night at the restaurant, after everything that happened between the two of them, the murders just stopped. The precinct had never seen anything like it. After a while, Dan just let it go; he didn’t really see a point on trying to chase dead ends. 

 

Phil, on the other hand, seemed more distraught about leaving the case unsolved than anything else. The case stayed open for another year before it was filed under unsolved, and in the five years since, Phil had spent weeks at a time cooped up in his office–always locked, but Dan never sought to question it–working until sunrise on the case. 

 

But while Phil cooped himself up physically, he finally opened up emotionally. He finally opened up about his ex-fiancé, about the breakup. Dan could recall many a night where Phil would be either in tears or speaking with such fervent anger that his entire body was red. It wasn’t hard to see that Phil really loved Jake, but as he grew closer to Dan, it was like he made peace with it.

 

There was one night, almost two months after the one at the restaurant. Admittedly, they had both had a little too much to drink, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the sofa. Phil had this sort of dreamlike, wistful glint in his eyes as he spoke with a slight slur:

 

“Remember when I said that you made me feel like I was learning how to be a person again?”

 

“Yeah,” Dan mumbled. “Why?”

 

“I think I finally know what I meant.”

 

“And what’s that?” Dan leaned his head back against the cushion.

 

“Like, when I was with Jake,” Phil leaned forward, “I felt happy. I felt whole and loved. I felt like a person, but when we broke off the engagement, I was crushed. I couldn’t understand why we fell apart, so I got angry. I spent months being so mad at him and myself that I wanted to kill all of the happiness and love around me. I always felt like being happy and whole in love were the qualities of being a person, but he left and took all of those things with him. In my head, if I couldn’t be happy with him, no one could. It was like I wanted to kill everyone that made him happy, like, how dare he be happy without me? Without him, I sorta forgot how to be a person. But with you, you make me feel all of those things and more. So yeah, I’m learning how to be a person again.”

 

“Did I really do all that?” Dan asked bashfully.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, you did.”

 

After that night, everything sort of came naturally for them. It was almost obvious that Phil move in with Dan. Hell, even saying “I love you” for the first time was the easiest thing in the world. They were sitting at what had become their table in the same coffee shop nearly a year after they’d first met. Phil had Dan’s order memorized, going without a word to the counter as Dan sat at the table. When he returned with two white mugs in hand, Dan just couldn’t stop himself:

 

“I love you,” he said plainly, obviously, almost routinely. 

 

Dan could tell by the look in Phil’s eyes that he was a bit taken aback by the seemingly careless proclamation, but that soon faded as he looked at Dan with that same wistful glint in his eye and smiled, “I love you, too.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really really.”

 

And of course, no one was surprised that they had each planned on proposing on the same day. The two of them were so in sync, so deeply connected, that it would’ve been a downright shame if that hadn’t. Neither of them wanted to make a big deal out of it, they just wanted to go a little bit further than they already were. So with both men clad in their pyjamas on a cold Tuesday afternoon nearly two years ago, they were prepared to pop the question, depending on who beat the other to the punch.

 

“Hey, Dan?” Phil mumbled from his side of the couch.

 

“Hmm?” Dan grumbled absently, clicking away at his laptop.

 

“I have a question for you.”

 

Dan paused, looking up from his screen. Wondering what question Phil could possibly be asking, he closed his laptop and sat in on the coffee table, shifting forward slightly. “And what might that be?”

 

“I love you a lot, yeah?”

 

“Well I’d hope so,” Dan chuckled.

 

“And you love me a lot, yeah?”

 

“Yes, love, that’s correct.” Dan didn’t understand why Phil was acting questions he knew the answers to already, but he decided to save any questions he asked Phil today for the Big Question.

 

“And we want to be with each other for the rest of our lives, right?”

 

“That’s the plan.”

 

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Phil grinned, “Good, good. So, with that out of the way–” Phil dug his hand in between the sofa cushions behind him. He dug around for a bit before he retrieved a–no, it couldn’t be.

 

Dan couldn’t stop himself from bursting into a fit of hysterical giggles; however, Phil was not as amused.

 

“We’re such idiots!” Dan heaved, shoving his hand into his pocket and revealing a small black velvet box in a similar fashion to the one Phil held in his hand.

 

“Wait, were you going to–” Phil finally understood the joke, speaking in that low, slightly chortled voice that Dan loved.

 

“Later tonight.” Dan grinned. “I even bought rose petals and those candles that everyone has in romantic comedies so I could set up the romantic bedroom ambience while you were in the shower.”

 

“We are such idiots!”

 

“The biggest!”

 

Both had doubled over in fits of giggles, nearly forgetting about the notion of proposing entirely before Phil spoke up.

 

“So…is that a yes?” 

 

“Yes, you idiot.”

 

Dan was glad he hadn’t set up the rose petals earlier because those would’ve been hell to clear off the bed in the time between him saying yes and him being eagerly thrown onto the bed by his now-fiancé.

 

Fiancé.

 

The wedding was in two months, and the word still felt foreign on his tongue.

 

How Dan would ever get used to saying husband, he’d never know.

 

Recently, Phil had been spending more time in his office than usual. For the most part, Dan hadn’t questioned it. He knew that Phil beat himself up about the case and that it hit pretty close to home for him, so Dan usually let him have his time in there every Sunday.

 

But he’d been hiding out in there nearly every day for the past month.

 

Dan decided to ask about it one day over breakfast and a tv show they were watching together. Phil’s answer left far too much for the imagination, yielding only an “I’m planning something…special.”

 

The inner romantic in Dan was quick to assume honeymoon, so he let himself hope for the best. He wasn’t sure what could be so extravagant for a honeymoon that Phil would coop himself up in his office all month, but Dan didn’t push any questions on Phil. He trusted Phil and that whatever he was planning had to be good, but Dan couldn’t help but be curious. He wasn’t really one to be nosy, but knowing that Phil kept the office key under his least favorite mug in the cupboard would certainly come in handy if his curiousity got the best of him.


	14. chapter 14: problmemeatic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by problmemeatic/briana!

Chapter 14  
The wedding was ultimately everything they hoped it would be. They had decided on spring and ended up finding another wedding planner and going to all the meetings, fittings, and cake tastings for real this time, although really the only thing that had changed was the comfort between them and the security they had in knowing each of them had found their forever.

 

They went for a somewhat small wedding, only inviting close friends and family, but Dan wanted all the decorations to be dramatic, romantic, and amazing. And they were. Dan chose to wear all black, while Phil wore all white, simply for the fashion statement, as Dan enjoyed dressing them both up to look like runway models.

 

They covered the hall it was held in with white lilies and red carnations, and after the ceremony was over they drank champagne and danced for hours, losing their usual worries about awkwardness simply in holding each other close and grinning, knowing this was the beginning of the rest of their lives together. They didn’t yet know what their futures would hold, but they knew they would have each other, and that was all that mattered.

 

Afterwards, Phil had surprised Dan with a honeymoon trip, just as he had been suspecting. Dan almost cried when Phil told him they were going to Japan for three weeks, just the two of them. He had even gotten approval from their boss and had worked with some of the other detectives to redistribute their work amongst them.

 

They went everywhere he could have hoped–themed cafes, romantic restaurants, parks, and tourist attractions. It was the perfect time of year to be there, and they were constantly surrounded by the lovely pastel pink of cherry blossoms. But they both loved coming back to their hotel room at night just as much as going out. After whatever busy events they’d had that day, they would always come back, tired but happy, ready to hold each other close against the cool air outside.

 

While they loved their honeymoon, they were also surprisingly happy to return to boring old London. This meant working again and living in their cramped flat instead of a lovely room overlooking Tokyo, but it also meant they could truly begin their lives together, which they were more than ready for.

 

They usually didn’t have to go into work until late morning, so they loved having a morning tradition of getting up a little earlier to have coffee together and talk before their day really started. Not much had changed since they got married though, except that neither of them could get over the excitement they felt every time they looked down at their left hands and the rings adorning them.

 

Another thing that had not changed was that Phil still locked himself away in his office night after night. They were long past closing off their feelings, thoughts, and emotions, but Dan still felt slightly left out every time Phil would lock the door, saying he needed to get some extra work done or just needed some time alone. 

 

After several more months, this situation had not improved, and so, as in all healthy relationships, Dan turned to communication. 

 

One morning, as they sat down to have their coffees (They had developed a little ritual of making them for each other, as they both knew by now exactly how the other liked it. Phil took his with milk and two sugars, while Dan liked his black, “Like my soul,” he’d say, while Phil shook his head fondly, knowing that could not in reality be farther from the truth), Dan finally couldn’t bear the separation he felt any longer.

 

“Hey Phil, can I ask you about something?”

 

Phil smiled back at him, not seeming to process his concerned expression. “Of course, what’s up?”

 

“Well, you know how you’re always shutting yourself away in the office–”

 

Phil’s demeanor changed instantly. “Not this again,” he cut in sharply.

 

“Yes, this again, because nothing has changed, Phil,” he continued, his voice slowly increasing in volume. “We come home, and I want to spend time with you! I want to cook dinner together, I want to watch movies together, I want to go to bed together, and instead you just lock yourself away! And not only that, you won’t even let me go in that room! What could possibly be so secret and important that you keep it hidden even from me?”

 

Phil kept his eyes trained on the table in front of him. “I’m sorry for making you feel that way, but that’s just how it has to be.”

 

Dan felt like a tiny piece of his heart chipped off, and his stomach dropped. Why won’t he just talk to me? “What do you mean ‘that’s just how it has to be’? Why don’t you just...let me in?” Dan’s voice softened almost to a whisper as he realized he was now pleading.

 

Phil, however, did not seem to be affected in the same way. His mouth fixed in a hard line, he simply replied, “Just let it go, Dan.” With this, he rose from the table and went to go get ready for work, leaving Dan feeling alone, and only ever-more curious.


	15. chapter 15: problmemeatic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written by problmemeatic/briana!  
> last chapter! u aren't ready

Chapter 15  
Dan wanted to be a good husband; he wanted to give Phil the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him. He had no problem with Phil having a space to himself when he needed some time alone, especially given how cramped their flat generally was. Phil’s dismissiveness and secrecy, though, only made Dan’s curiosity continue to build.

 

Usually, they worked at the same time and stayed home at the same time, as a result of their still being partners even at the station. However, Dan was feeling a bit ill today, so after placing a hot cup of tea in his hand and a kiss on his forehead, Phil went off to work while Dan stayed home. 

 

For most of the day, Dan watched movies and browsed tumblr, only taking a break to heat up a bowl of soup for lunch. But in the afternoon, he began to get restless. He wasn’t ill enough for his mind to cease its functioning; honestly, he probably would’ve still gone into work if it hadn’t been for Phil insisting that he needed his rest and that he could handle the paperwork for a day while Dan worked on getting better.

 

And the more his mind wandered, the more he kept thinking about what Phil could possibly be hiding from him. He didn’t want to invade Phil’s space or violate his privacy in any way, but a small voice in his head wouldn’t stop telling him that he had a right to know. It was his flat and his husband.

 

He rose slowly from the sofa, still slightly unsure if he was doing the right thing, and made his way to the kitchen. He removed the key to the office from under the mug he never used and walked down the hall.

 

He took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for whatever lay beyond the door. A sudden thought intruded into his mind. What if Phil is cheating on me? He didn’t think he would be able to handle that. He shook his head. No, Phil loves me–he would never do that to me. It’s probably nothing.

 

Dan inserted the key into the lock, turned it, and opened the door. Nothing struck him as out of place upon his first look around. It was simply a standard office, with a comfortable-looking chair and a large desk with a small plant on it and loose papers strewn across its top. Dan examined the papers and recognized them as some paperwork from the station Phil had taken home to get a head start on; everything seemed in order.

 

But he had come this far, he couldn’t stop now. He paused, then pulled open the first of the desk’s three drawers. Pens, a notepad, scissors, and some Japanese erasers they had gotten on their honeymoon. Dan smiled fondly at the memory. He moved on to the second drawer. Extra paper and notepads. Nothing strange about being prepared. Finally, he opened the third drawer and found some spare copies of documents and forms they use at work.

 

Just as Dan was wondering why Phil tried to hide these from him as they were so plain and unassuming, his eye caught sight of a fourth drawer, more of a tray really, directly in front of the black office chair. He drew the chair back and slid the drawer out.

 

Dan let out an audible gasp. In the drawer was an M9 bayonet. He picked it up to examine it closer, although this didn’t resolve any of his questions, of which he came up with more by the second.

 

How had he not noticed Phil had this when they moved in? Unless Phil had purposely hid it from him? But for what purpose?

 

His mind suddenly flashed back to the serial killer case from all those years ago. It couldn’t be, he thought. And yet there was no other solution. He thought about how Phil was always out at the time of the murders, how he kept acting strange at the time, how he had been a suspect and Dan had dismissed the notion because he had always looked at Phil through rose-coloured glasses. 

 

“Holy shit.”

 

Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him. He spun around, with the bayonet still in his hands and his heart racing, and saw Phil standing in the doorway. He saw Dan holding the bayonet and nodded. 

 

He walked over to Dan, calming striding closer until their faces were only inches apart, while Dan’s eyes darted quickly between Phil and the weapon. Dan could feel Phil’s breath on his face, his eyes piercing right through Dan’s. 

 

Finally, Phil spoke.

 

“Took you long enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOPE YOU ENJOYED/ARE NOW FILLED WITH INTENSE ANGST!  
> Thanks again to El, Hannah, the PBB mods, and Phil Nye the Murder Guy™!  
> Link to the art again: [ link!](http://plasticphan.tumblr.com/post/153235740047/littlephanwriters-presentblood-on-your-hands)  
> Reblog on tumblr: [ link!](http://littlephanwriters.tumblr.com/post/153235810890/blood-on-your-hands-cream-in-my-coffee)  
> Please leave a comment, we love your feedback/hate mail! If you liked one chapter in particular, make sure to leave a comment there as well, the author that wrote it would appreciate it a lot!


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